V.I.C.
The Virtual Intelligence Computer, abbreviated V.I.C., or better known as simply Vic, is a sardonic and frequently unhelpful communications officer, acting as the Red and Blue Team's contact at Command. He later takes the name Vic Jr. in episode 71, when Church accidentally contacts him via radio, stating he’s a descendant of Vic in order to explain the time travel. He aids Omega in the Blood Gulch Chronicles and serves as a supporting antagonist. Overview V.I.C. is shown to be an A.I. set up by Project Freelancer to assist Agent Florida in protecting the Alpha A.I., as shown in Why They're Here. Vic resided in a computer in the underground caves of Blood Gulch, where he secretly watched and gave the Red and Blue teams instructions, in order to ensure a never ending conflict. After the Reds and Blues go "into the future", Vic went under the name Vic Jr., in order to go along with the crew's belief that they were in the future. However, the Reds soon discover Vic's underground computer, explaining Simmons' belief that Vic was in the cavern and how he was apparently able to survive the "several-hundred-year-time gap" between seasons, as his vasectomy would seem to rule out any descendants. Role in Plot Interaction with the Reds and Blues V.I.C. was an artificial intelligence program who was stationed at Blood Gulch by Project Freelancer in order to assist Butch Flowers in protecting the Alpha A.I. In doing so, V.I.C. pretended to be the communications officer for both the Red and Blue teams, though this was later uncovered by Tucker, who then tries to convince both teams that the Reds and Blues are the same and to stop fighting. However, no member of either team believes Tucker, as he is knocked unconscious when he makes the discovery, and V.I.C. manages to contact Sarge and warn against listening to Tucker before the latter tells everyone. V.I.C. later works with O'Malley to some degree, although he seems to regard O'Malley as more of a necessary annoyance than a partner, and O'Malley hires an assassin called Wyoming to kill Tucker in order to preserve the secret that Red and Blue are the same. ”Future Descendant" When the Reds and Blues travel to the “future”, V.I.C. is presumably replaced by someone who claims to be one of his descendants, Vic Jr. who is secretly only V.I.C. When first contacted by Church after the latter returns to Blood Gulch, V.I.C. scoffs at Church's mention of Blue Command and notes that there is a lot of information to divulge. In Baby Steps and Sibling ''Arrivalries'', Church attempted to contact V.I.C. for reinforcements, but he was not at his post and his message box turned out to be full after a lengthy and somewhat nonsensical set of instructions. He later contacted Church, telling him to immediately attack the Red Base, going through the caves, then hanging up before Church could get any more information. Discovery Not long after, he is contacted by the Reds but hangs up when he notices Simmons arriving at the surveillance console in the caverns. Having hampered his plans, Simmons, unaware of who Sarge was talking to, maintains that V.I.C. is in the caves somewhere and was using the teams. V.I.C. makes one last appearance in Episode 99, where Flowers, under the influence of Omega, is seen standing in front of the computer screen talking to him. According to Red vs. Blue: The Ultimate Fan Guide, V.I.C. was shut down after the events of the Blood Gulch Chronicles Season 14 During Season 14, V.I.C acts as the narrator for the beginning of most of the season 14 episodes. Personality V.I.C. behaves like an annoying, ineffective technical support guy, constantly calling people "dude" and often offering obtuse and unhelpful advice and biting insults. He can be quite inappropriate, at one point forcing Doc into a lengthy conversation about his sterility in Episode 34. Burnie Burns notes that V.IC. was portrayed as over-the-top annoying from Episode 20 so the character would be memorable to viewers. Although he acts confident on the radio, it's shown when things don't go according to his plans, he becomes a coward. For example, when Tucker intercepts his call with Sarge and when Simmons found him in the caves, he goes into a panic and attempts to avoid facing them. Themes Communication Skills Although Vic and his "descendant," Vic Jr., are communication officers, their talkative nature, such as using the word "dude" often and weird dialog, proves to hinder several characters' goals. Because of this, many characters are annoyed by him. It's even shown that his answering machine is annoyingly long and filled with previous messages that can't allow anyone to leave anymore. The only person who he seems to not annoy is Omega, who ironically annoys him. It was later revealed that Vic's eccentric and erratic behavior was the result of Captain Flowers accidently tripping and unplugging a wire connected to Vic's control panel. Prior to this, Vic acted with a flat, professional tone unlike the character he would become. Gallery Vic45-1.png|"...Dude, how long have you guys been down there?" Vic Jr.png|Vic Vic, Andy, & Gary.jpg|Vic, Andy, and Gary Artwork Trivia *Vic is the first non-helmet wearing character seen in the series. *In his first appearance, Vic was voiced by "Warthog Jump" creator Randall Glass, and lacked his trademark personality. Starting in season 2, he was voiced by Burnie Burns, with his eccentric personality slowly building over time. *Vic was originally animated by manipulating screenshots of the player model he was derrived from talking at the appropriate speed to mimic his lines. Later seasons however used a static image with sophisticated morphing to both provide lip synch for his lines and additional facial movements to add to his personality. This method was also used when reshooting the past seasons for the Remastered editions. *When Vic appears as "Vic Jr", his model is digitally recolored with a more yellow color. This color was applied to subsequent appearances placed prior to the events of Season 4 however. *Vic has a cameo appearance in an Easter Egg of Spartan Ops Episode 4 "Didact's Hand", Chapter 2 Rally Point.[http://ah.roosterteeth.com/archive/?id=6170 Achievement Hunter: RvB Easter Egg Number 4] *In The Best Red vs. Blue DVD Ever. Of All Time., Vic was voted the "Best of the Rest", and his name was displayed as "V.I.C.", further supporting that he is possibly an A.I., which would be confirmed in Season 14. *In Baby Steps, it's revealed that Vic has a jingle to help remember his phone number. As sung by Doc the jingle goes: "If you want to talk, don't email. And don't you click, click, click, click. Just call me up at 555-V-I-C-K!" to which Church responds, "Ya know, it probably would've been more memorable if it rhymed... or if his name actually ended in a 'K'". *Vic appears in the second ending of Episode 100, where Sarge calls him for reinforcements. Vic tells Sarge that he ruined the plan by destroying the ship, making Sarge go to the caves and destroy the computer in anger, seemingly killing him. *According to Burnie Burns, Vic was based on a real person and one-time roommate of Burnie's, also named Vic, who had the same distinctive voice and speaking mannerisms, like over-using the word "dude".Rooster Teeth Podcast #389 *Before he died Flowers uploeded 500 songs into Vic's head. References Category:Characters Category:Antagonists Category:AI Category:Freelancer Category:Missing in Action